Vulnerability of Newborns to Environmental Factors: Findings from Community Based Surveillance Data in Bangladesh

Ishtiaq Mannan, Yoonjoung Choi, Anastasia J. Coutinho, Atique I. Chowdhury, Syed Moshfiqur Rahman, Habib R. Seraji, Sanwarul Bari, Rasheduzzaman Shah, Peter J. Winch, Shams El Arifeen, Gary L. Darmstadt and Abdullah H. Baqui
Additional contact information
Ishtiaq Mannan: Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Suite E8138, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Yoonjoung Choi: Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Suite E8138, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Anastasia J. Coutinho: Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Suite E8138, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Atique I. Chowdhury: International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Syed Moshfiqur Rahman: International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Habib R. Seraji: International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Sanwarul Bari: International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Rasheduzzaman Shah: Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Suite E8138, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Peter J. Winch: Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Suite E8138, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Shams El Arifeen: International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Gary L. Darmstadt: Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Suite E8138, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Abdullah H. Baqui: Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Suite E8138, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA

IJERPH, 2011, vol. 8, issue 8, 1-16

Abstract: Infection is the major cause of neonatal deaths. Home born newborns in rural Bangladeshi communities are exposed to environmental factors increasing their vulnerability to a number of disease agents that may compromise their health. The current analysis was conducted to assess the association of very severe disease (VSD) in newborns in rural communities with temperature, rainfall, and humidity. A total of 12,836 newborns from rural Sylhet and Mirzapur communities were assessed by trained community health workers using a sign based algorithm. Records of temperature, humidity, and rainfall were collected from the nearest meteorological stations. Associations between VSD and environmental factors were estimated. Incidence of VSD was found to be associated with higher temperatures (odds ratios: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.08 to 1.21 in Sylhet and 1.06, 95% CI: 1.04 to 1.07 in Mirzapur) and heat humidity index (odds ratios: 1.06, 95% CI: 1.04 to 1.08 in Sylhet and, 1.03, 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.04 in Mirzapur). Four months (June-September) in Sylhet, and six months in Mirzapur (April-September) had higher odds ratios of incidence of VSD as compared to the remainder of the year (odds ratios: 1.72, 95% CI: 1.32 to 2.23 in Sylhet and, 1.62, 95% CI: 1.33 to1.96 in Mirzapur). Prevention of VSD in neonates can be enhanced if these interactions are considered in health intervention strategies.

Keywords: neonatal; infection; sepsis; community health workers; environment; heat humidity index; Bangladesh (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/8/8/3437/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/8/8/3437/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:8:y:2011:i:8:p:3437-3452:d:13645

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().